Christopher arrived safely at our favorite Scranton hotel, The Radisson, Lackawanna Station. This is our 3rd year getting away together to write. This year's a little different in that we are coauthoring a new book series: The Berinfell Prophecies.
Tomorrow from noon to two, Christopher and I have an event at The Banshee. This fabulous gathering place has become to us what the "Bird and Baby" was to CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. We soak in the atmosphere and talk story.
A lot of people have asked us how do we coauthor a book? Aren't there conflicts? What about your writer's voice? Don't they clash? Won't people notice which parts you write and which parts Christopher writes?
Ultimately, I guess our amazing readers will have to decide how we do. So far, I can honestly say that I am having the most fun writing that I have ever had. We seldom if ever have conflict, and we've given each other cart blanche to edit each other's work without WITHOUT using the track changes feature. We're hoping in that way to develop "our" voice rather than me then him, etc.
Something else that we're trying is a process we call Layering.
This is nothing new to writing as it really is just several draft stages rolled into a more methodical approach. Here's what it looks like:
Layer 1: Go after the story--action, plot, go, go, go! We take our outline and just let the story roll on out there. We don't stop for flowery language; we don't think too hard about theme; and we let our characters grow and act and do without too much interference from the bumbling authors.
Layer 2: Character Focus--who are these people? Why are they doing what they are? Why should anyone care about them. The second time through the manuscript, we delve into the personalities and attributes of our main characters. They may be fine just the way they are. Or, they may be cardboard, 2D wannabees in need of major reality check!
Layer 3: Description--the reader needs to be immersed, not drowned, in the world we're creating. They need enough description for their imaginations to get their footing and do their thing. We go through line by line, cutting, tweaking, adding. We consider the mood of each scene and include descriptive details to reflect the emotion we are building. You don't need every detail about the forest, but that one vine that dangles from the tree like a noose...might be important.
Layer 4: Cool Stuff--I know, I need a better name for this one. But really this is the layer where we get crazy. We start weaving in a little foreshadowing. We throw in those righteous bits of dialogue that give the reader a clue to chew on. We start naming the cool swords and ancient caves and such. These are things that can really bog a writer down if you try too hard to get it right on the first draft. Seriously, I can waste a whole day just thinking of a character name--and the vitality and momentum of the scene I was working on just gets crushed. Best for last.
We'll see how it works out. So far. So good. March 13th is our deadline, and that's when Layers 5 thru 12 will occur...when our editors read our stuff and say, uh, you're serious, right?
Something Else to Consider: Catching the Gold Coins
At any time during this layering process, you may have brilliantly cool things pop into your head: a tidbit about the language the Elves will speak, a sweet bit of dialogue, a poignant bit of description for a character you've not even invented yet--whatever it is, you CANNOT afford to ignore them. These are "Gold Coins from Heaven," baby. You need to scoop them up, or like manna, it will be gone.
Yes, this interrupts the layering process. I use Scrivener or SuperNoteCards when I write, so I just pop open a new file, throw in the Gold Coin, label it as specifically as I can, and then dive back into the manuscript.
A lot of people have asked us how do we coauthor a book? Aren't there conflicts? What about your writer's voice? Don't they clash? Won't people notice which parts you write and which parts Christopher writes?
Ultimately, I guess our amazing readers will have to decide how we do. So far, I can honestly say that I am having the most fun writing that I have ever had. We seldom if ever have conflict, and we've given each other cart blanche to edit each other's work without WITHOUT using the track changes feature. We're hoping in that way to develop "our" voice rather than me then him, etc.
Something else that we're trying is a process we call Layering.
This is nothing new to writing as it really is just several draft stages rolled into a more methodical approach. Here's what it looks like:
Layer 1: Go after the story--action, plot, go, go, go! We take our outline and just let the story roll on out there. We don't stop for flowery language; we don't think too hard about theme; and we let our characters grow and act and do without too much interference from the bumbling authors.
Layer 2: Character Focus--who are these people? Why are they doing what they are? Why should anyone care about them. The second time through the manuscript, we delve into the personalities and attributes of our main characters. They may be fine just the way they are. Or, they may be cardboard, 2D wannabees in need of major reality check!
Layer 3: Description--the reader needs to be immersed, not drowned, in the world we're creating. They need enough description for their imaginations to get their footing and do their thing. We go through line by line, cutting, tweaking, adding. We consider the mood of each scene and include descriptive details to reflect the emotion we are building. You don't need every detail about the forest, but that one vine that dangles from the tree like a noose...might be important.
Layer 4: Cool Stuff--I know, I need a better name for this one. But really this is the layer where we get crazy. We start weaving in a little foreshadowing. We throw in those righteous bits of dialogue that give the reader a clue to chew on. We start naming the cool swords and ancient caves and such. These are things that can really bog a writer down if you try too hard to get it right on the first draft. Seriously, I can waste a whole day just thinking of a character name--and the vitality and momentum of the scene I was working on just gets crushed. Best for last.
We'll see how it works out. So far. So good. March 13th is our deadline, and that's when Layers 5 thru 12 will occur...when our editors read our stuff and say, uh, you're serious, right?
Something Else to Consider: Catching the Gold Coins
At any time during this layering process, you may have brilliantly cool things pop into your head: a tidbit about the language the Elves will speak, a sweet bit of dialogue, a poignant bit of description for a character you've not even invented yet--whatever it is, you CANNOT afford to ignore them. These are "Gold Coins from Heaven," baby. You need to scoop them up, or like manna, it will be gone.
Yes, this interrupts the layering process. I use Scrivener or SuperNoteCards when I write, so I just pop open a new file, throw in the Gold Coin, label it as specifically as I can, and then dive back into the manuscript.
